French magistrates argued only French courts should judge Africans, calling African judges barbaric

Evidence

Cougoul, chief of judicial services in the southern colonies, insisted that “sovereign France does not have the right to confer the responsibility of punishing felonies upon anyone other than its magistrates.” African judges, he continued, were “barbaric.” Africans preferred French justice, and it made sense to provide them with the system they had chosen of their own free will. He concluded, in keeping with the professional interests of the French magistrature generally, that French courts should have jurisdiction over the entire federation. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 305

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the internal French debate over assimilation versus association, core to understanding the republican idea of empire.